


Baby Doll

by vanete_druse



Category: The Unit
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crack, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2018-02-12 21:24:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2125164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanete_druse/pseuds/vanete_druse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlie and Hector, inspired by the Tumblr prompt post: "I just want all my OTPs to have to do the high school fake-baby project together."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baby Doll

**Author's Note:**

> This was just meant to be a silly little crack ficlet. I started writing it at one in the morning when I just could not bring myself to study anymore, thinking it would be like 300 words max. But as you can see, it didn't stay 300 words, not at all... xD 
> 
> I think at this point we all realize I am terrible at finding beta readers and always hate my titles, so, hope you guys enjoy x]

It really only happens because there’s an uneven ratio of male to female students in the class, but honestly, when Charlie and Hector are paired together for the final project for Home Applications, they’re both secretly relieved. They don’t even mind so much about the implications behind this - it’s senior year, and at this point they’re just glad for the easy grade, knowing how well they work together.

When Mr. Blane hands them the doll that is meant to represent their baby, he says, “I appreciate that you two are so understanding about this situation. I know you guys are probably just as displeased as any of the other guys would be if I put them together for this kind of assignment, but I’m really grateful that you’re being such good sports about it.”

"Ah, it’s nothing, Mr. B. It’s everybody else that’s making the big deal out of it," Charlie responds, taking the plastic baby and easily cradling it in his arms.

When they return to their seats, they first start with figuring out their schedules - rotating at home baby duty every other day - before Hector asks, “So, what should we name our son?”

Charlie shrugs a bit. “Well, I’ve always liked your middle name. Why not Lucian?”

"Lucian Lewis Williams. Sounds good to me."

Raising his eyebrows, Charlie looks at Hector, who’s trying and failing miserably at playing innocent. “And you’re assuming that I’m going to take on your last name because…?”

"Because Charles Williams sounds better than Hector Grey," Hector responds automatically. Charlie just can’t fight that kind of logic, and nods in agreement. _Lucian Lewis Williams it is, then._

*

Charlie takes first night shift, and Hector thinks nothing of this until he gets a phone call just after dinner, immediately hearing the recording of fake baby cries over the speaker. “I think Lucian’s broken, man. I’ve done literally _everything_ and it won’t stop crying. I hate to do this, but my ma-“

"I’ll be right over," Hector responds. He’s only ten minutes away, and the door opens before he even raises a hand to knock, showing a worried Charlie, holding the still crying doll.

"I fed it, burped it, changed it, twirled it…I’m kind of running out of ideas, Hector."

On a whim, Hector doesn’t step inside the house, but instead gently takes the doll from Charlie as though it were a real child, and sits on the swinging porch chair, beginning to softly rock back and forth.

After a few moments the crying turns off. Charlie takes a look around to see that the neighborhood is quiet and that nobody is around when he sits beside Hector, their knees brushing. “Thanks. I can take it from here. You’re a lifesaver, though.”

"Don’t even mention it. I’ll see you in class tomorrow."

Hector gets halfway across the lawn when Charlie calls out, “This doesn’t mean you’re the better dad, you know!”

"If the shoe fits…"

He’s still smiling as he unlocks his Jeep and climbs back inside.

*

When they step into the classroom the next day, at least two of the fake babies are still crying, and Hector can feel more than see the internal cringing Charlie is doing at the sound of the high pitched shrieking.

He is clearly not the only one annoyed by the noise, as the room is in shambles, students yelling at each other to turn off the dolls, some actually attempting to pull them apart to find the battery pack to take out.

Mr. Blane whistles loudly to call their attention, booming out over the tinny sobbing, “Anybody found the fix for this?”

Hector doesn’t have the advantage of the swinging chair, but he figures he can mimic the rocking motion with his long arms anyways, and raises his hand; Mr. Blane nods once to him, and without a second thought he’s taking the dolls from their owners and swaying them back and forth until they finally shut off.

There’s a ringing in his ears from the silence that follows, and he pretends not to notice a few of the girls nudging each other and giving him the curious once over. “And that, class, is how you rock a baby to sleep,” Mr. Blane announces. “Good work, Williams.”

"Thank you, sir," Hector replies, sitting back down next to Charlie. This time, there are no snickers from the other boys in the class - instead, they almost seem envious as they watch the pair and their baby.

*

Finals are just around the corner and senioritis has become fatal, as Charlie and Hector sit in Hector’s living room, baby propped up between them, surrounded by open textbooks.

"We should do chem next," Hector says, still staring down into a calculus textbook that only looks like gibberish to his exhausted brain. He gets no response. "…Carlito?"

Charlie’s face is half pressed against the soft back of the sofa, left hand still on top of the blank notebook page, pencil falling out of the weakened grip. Hector can’t help but smile a bit at the sight of his best friend’s impromptu nap.

Taking a quick look around, he realizes that his father is in his workshop in the basement and his mother is upstairs, cleaning - there’s no one around to suddenly walk in on him. Temptation overwhelms him and suddenly he’s leaning in, so close, to press the gentlest of kisses against Charlie’s forehead…

His movements jostle the doll, which immediately wakes up with a high pitched cry. There isn’t enough time for Hector to jump away and pretend as though he isn’t doing anything, as Charlie awakes with a jump and they bump heads. “…wha-?”

Humiliated, Hector slinks away, picking up the doll to start the usual rocking motions again. “I was just trying to wake you when I must’ve moved Lucian,” he lies, staring down into the plastic features and refusing to look directly at his friend.

"That’s funny," Charlie replies, yawning a little, "Since I was just having this dream where we were living together, and you woke me up with a kiss. Felt a little like Sleeping Beauty, to be honest."

Charlie’s picking his pencil back up again, rubbing his eyes and also avoiding Hector’s eyes. There’s a strange, warm feeling bubbling up inside Hector’s chest that feels a lot like hope.

*

The very last day of class, Mr. Blane hands back the daily logs for the project, the grade written inside. It’s been a week since they turned in the doll, and in the distraction of finals and college acceptance letters, they haven’t had any time to discuss what had happened during their study session.

Charlie flips through the composition notebook before finding Mr. Blane’s red pen markings: _"A+! You guys make a great team!"_

"Yeah…we do, don’t we?" Hector says with a smile. "That’s why you’re not allowed to run away to MIT. How are you going to get through all your classes without me to carry you?"

“ _Please_. More like I finally won't have you holding me back,” Charlie smirks, before sobering slightly, and saying with a light tone of voice, “Besides, it’s not like I’ll be _too_ far. Harvard is only, what, five minutes away?”

The bell rings, and Charlie closes the notebook, shoving it into his bag haphazardly. “Yeah, I think we’ll be just fine,” he says after the loud intonations have ceased - Hector may not have said his insecurities over losing his best friend to college out loud, but then again, he knows he doesn’t really have to.

"We usually are," Hector agrees, brushing their arms subtly as they walk to their last set of classes together for one last time.

**Author's Note:**

> My personal headcanon for this AU is that Charlie wants to be an engineer and Hector wants to be a doctor, hence why I picked those universities for them. Plus they are so close together, so they could easily catch a bus or something to each other's campuses and hang out and study on the weekends - while they're falling even more in love, of course ;D


End file.
